SUSTAINABILITY AND RESPECT FOR THE COUNTRYSIDE
Contact us for a bicycle ride in the countryside
NATURE CYCLING
Respect the Wildlife
Where possible it is paramount to understand that nature always comes first. if you need to go that extra yard to spot and identify a bird, ensure you are not trampling over some clumps of flowers. You may disturb a rabbit's burrow or disturb a nesting birds. Keep your voices low and be respectful of the nature around you. We aim to have fun, but never at the expense of disturbing the wildlife needless.
Yield to Hikers
Unless you’re on a cycling-only trail, you should always be respectful to walkers, hikers, or other travelers off a bicycle. Particularly when you are going downhill, you should yield to those going uphill. This is a form of courtesy to uphill hikers, since it is more arduous to travel uphill than downhill Although bikers should yield to hikers, it's better to be safe than right. You should also alert other trail users to your approach with a bicycle bell and always try to maintain complete control of your bicycle and keep that speed in check, avoid travelling at a pace what may be dangerous for your own skill and abilities.
Leave No Trace
It's disheartening that sometimes during our tours, we have bumped in to other cyclist or walkers with little respect for their environment, leaving waste behind and trampling everywhere. We always encourage our clients to take a small paper bag or other biodegradable material (avoid plastics!) with them and keep their waste in it and dispose of it appropriately when possible.
Cycling is arguably one of the healthiest forms of physical activity, low impact on the knees and a great fat burer. Although cycling can be a great way to reduce your environmental footprint, it is important that you follow basic rules of field etiquette and reduce damaging the environment as you cycling. Keep your eye on where you travelling on, mind the flowers and the little critters. Here are some ideas of activities you can enjoy with us.
BIRDWATCHING
Cycling allows you to reach really nice quiet corners, where you can just stop and immerse yourself in the natural surrounding. With Aviantours you can learn how to recognise a variety of bird calls and songs, a great little challenge for kids and family groups. Combining cycling and birdwatching in the natural environment is just a winning combination to reduce stress and inflammation. A quick look up towards the skies will often reveal a low flying group of Griffon vulture, or even a kettle of migrating birds of prey. You will hear the unmistakable song of the Eurasian cuckoo, the exotic notes of the beautiful Golden oriole and the famous singing repertoire of the Nightingale. Check out the nightingale song in using the embedded player below. This is our idea of what we call cycle birding. Simply unbeatable!
NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Imagine seeing a fantastic photo opportunity, you stop for a photo, then you look up and watch hundreds of birds. See pic below of a kettle of Black kites taken during one of our nature cycles. Listen to the sound of nature, isn't that just fantastic? You could literally spend hours in a spot taking some macro shots of flowers, insects and reptiles. We are in no hurry. We can prepare a packed lunch for you, your kids, or whoever your group is or you can simply just bring your own. We cycle at your preferred pace and you will have ample time to stop, walk around and take as many photo as you wish. We can also hire out camera bodies, lenses and other equipment. We also offer photography and photo editing for the complete package. Contact us to discuss your preferences and we can create a bespoke fun-packed itinerary and package especially for you.
Exercise
Cycling raises your heart rate and gets the blood circulating round your body, and it burns calories, reducing the risk of being overweight. Being overweight can increase the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and even cancer. Cycling ranks highly as an exercise of choice to maintain good health and is recommended by the NHS to help keep your weight in check and heart health. We also ensure that our rides are safe, we always carry first aid equipment and plenty of water during our trips.
WE BELIEVE IN ETHICAL RIDING AND RESPECT FOR THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Bring your own bike or hire your own
Wash your bicycles after a ride.
You should always wash off your bike after a ride and ensure there’s no mud stuck in your tracks and keep the chains well greased. If your bike is covered in mud, it’s also likely covered in weeds or dust from the tracks. If you don’t wash off your bike before traveling to ride you could inadvertently become a vector for conveying a different species of plant life from one region to another. This can cause a lot of damage to ecosystems.
Gentle braking
When you brake hard you may cut large divots on the terrain which which may disturb the undersoil and the little critters lying beneath, rip up plant life and also contribute to soil erosion when it rains and windy. It is a better strategy to travel a little slower and use your brakes gently and less often. This is especially true when you’re on a slope!
Keep to the track
This may seem rather basic and obvious, but it's important to understand that the more we cycle off-track,, the more we contribute to soil erosion. So keep to the signposted tracks and avoid creating further damage elsewhere.
To ensure our cycle rides are low impact, environmentally friendly and keep to our ethos of sustainable eco-tourism, we try to keep to some very important guidelines which we always like to impart on our clients and a great way for kids to develop awareness and respect for nature..